I only have time to write up a quick update today on The DIE-t I love to hate because to be honest, I have really been busy at that other 4 letter word we all love to hate – work – and since they pay the bills (somewhat) I kind of have to give them priority over the somewhat mindless missives I post every now and then. But I digress, which I do have a tendency to do, and need to get back to telling you about my DIE-t before another stack of files hit my desk or another phone rings that needs to be ignored.

As some of you may remember from earlier blogs (and if you don’t remember, they are in my archives in between all that Dancing With The Stars stuff) I went to see Dr. Killjoy a little over 2 months ago and he told me with all the warmth & compassion of a hyena with a rash that I needed to quit living the life I was living if I wanted to live to see my kids gets older. His partner in crime over in the Cardiology Department agreed with him that my BP was high, my cholesterol was high, my weight was high and my heart looked borderline bad. So I was told to lose a lot of weight & to start exercising. I wasn’t happy about it and I was even less happy about the fact that I was given my marching orders just before my birthday. (WHAT ?!?! NO CAKE ?!?!) I did however listen and I decided to play along. I mean it was only my life I was playing with so what did I have to lose ?

Three weeks later I wrote a blog about how I had lost 15 pounds or as I put it “three bags of sugar”. It was a tangible comparison and pretty accurate too since the first 15 pounds I lost could be directly attributed to the fact that I cut out the morning muffins, the afternoon cookies, the candy bars on the train ride home and the ice cream at night. That first 15 pounds just melted away. I was exercising consistently for the first time in a long time so that helped some but I am still convinced it was the lack of any sugar or carbs in my diet. A smart way to target a quick weight loss but not exactly a realistic or overly healthy way to live.

Two weeks after that I hit 200 pounds for the first time in a long time. I had started my DIE-t at 225 pounds so this was a major accomplishment. I was really happy and decided that it was time to move onto the next phase of my prescribed DIE-t and reintroduce some of the foods that I had had to cut out previously. Well I it seems I reintroduced some of those foods a little too well and the next thing I knew I was back up to 204 and sitting in my cardiologist’s office being told my BP was still high and that I needed to lose more weight. Suddenly the wave of euphoria I had been riding came crashing back down onto the hard rocks of reality. I realized that this wasn’t going to be as easy as having ice cream melt off a stick. That if I wanted to live a normal life again and eat normal foods again, I was going to have to really re-dedicate myself. I started eating smarter (again) and really exercising. Making myself pay for my weight. Sweating so hard when I jogged that I had to wear a different shirt every day. It hurt but it had to be done.

I am happy to say that now, four weeks later, my cardiologist has been blown away by my progress. My Blood Pressure is almost back to normal. My cholesterol has taken a huge dip. My heart has checked out as okay and most of all, my weight loss has been real & substantial. I weighed in the other day at 195 pounds. That’s SIX BAGS OF SUGAR for those of you who’s grocery stores haven’t downsized to 4lb bags yet.

Am I happy ? Yes – to a point. I’m still not in great shape, none of my suits fit me anymore, I am going to need to spend money on new suits and I still can’t eat all the foods that I want to eat. Then again, as the great philosopher Jagger once said, “You can’t always get what you want.” Well I am going to keep try, try, trying and I think I will find that as much as I hate this DIE-t & lifestyle change, it’s just what I need.

Come back next time when I PROMISE to share some of the recipes that my most awesome & supportive wife has come up with in the last two months.

Have a great holiday weekend.

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

6 responses to “Update on The DIE-t I Love To Hate”

Inspiring post. Admire what you are doing, and your amazing progress. Jagger did say, “You can’t always get what you want,” but isn’t the next line, “But if you try some time, you just might find, you get what you need,” which in this case is health and a long life. I’ll try to emulate you. So happy for you and your family.